Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-09-10
A THEATRE BURNED At EXETER.
ENGLAND.
GALLERY OF ooRPsKs--vIcTIMs OF
THE FIRE.


LONDON, Sept. 5.-A theatre at
Exeter took fire this evening during
a performance of Romany Rye. The
occupants of the pit, after an awful
struggle, escaped, but many of them
were greatly injured. There was
only one exit from the gallery, and
the rush there was terrific. Scores
were trodden under foot and sufro-
Gated. A fire escape was brought to
q window, and many inside were res
cued Sixty corpses have been re-
moved. The injured survivors were
sent to a hospital The mortality
is estimated at 100.
LONDON, September 6.-The sad
work of removing the dead from the
ruins of the burned Theatre Royal
in Exeter has been continued all
day and tonight. There were terri
BILE scenes about the ruins to-day.
Bereaved people were seeking their
dead, crying, moaning, and wander
ing about in a helpless manner try
ing to identify in the charred rem
nants of human bodies some sem
blance of their loved ones. The
victims were mostly working people
who had occupied seats in the fatal
gallery. In many cases farther and
mother both persisted, and the mum
Der of children orphaned by the ter
rible holocaust is exceptionally large.
Several bodies have beer burn ed
until nothing remains but cinders,
making naturalization impossible.
Sixty of those who were taken to
the hospital are severely injured and
many of them will probably die. A
number eff them show no signs of re
covery from the burns and wounds
they received in the frantic rush to
escape.
The number of deaths ia mount.
ing upward and it is feared now that
it will reach $50 at the lowest esti-
mate. At noon to day, while the
search for bodies was being prose-
cuted in the ruins of the theatre, the
workmen came upon twenty bodies
lying in a heap together, completely
calcined.
Another CHASTITY discovery was
made of a father, mother and child
burned to death, clasped in one EN-
brace. Many bodies found indicate
what terrible struggle there was
to preserve life.
The theatre which stood on the
ground occupied by the present edi-
fee was similarly destroyed by fire
six years ago. At that time there
was no performance going on so that
no one was injured. No cause was
discovered for this fire. The present
building was Immediately afterward
erected by designs from Mr.. Phipps.
The auditorium was made up Of
pit, low balcony, upper tier of box
es and gallery. When completely
filled it would hold $500 persons.
Exeter, though it contains only
$4,000 people, is the capital of the
southwest of England. 1t is the
seat of bishopric. Near the city
is Pynes, the beautiful seat of Lord
Iddesleigh. The city is about four
hundred miles from London, and is
the last station on the Great West
ern Railway reached by the famous
"Flying Dutchman" train.
Nearly every corpse recovered had
the clothes torn of. From many of
the bodies limbs were missing, and
the remains showed evidence that
they had been wrentched off, Sew
eral whole families, numbering from
two to five persons, lost their lives.
The construction of the gallery
staircase accounts for the great loss
of life amoung the gallery people.
Half way down the fight there was
a sharp angle. The first persons
who left the gallery got past this
in safety, but several of those who
followed were thrown down and jam
med into the angle, and were unable
to extricate themselves, owing to the
pressure from behind. The stair
case at this point was thus effectual-
ly blocked, and there was no other
means of escape. A scene shifter
says the fire originated among some
gauze, which in some way became
| ignited. The flames spread to the
scenery, Of which the stage was I'M
usually full; owing to the prepare
tons in progress for the production
of pantomine. The audience num-
| bered 800 persons.